CIA Teases with Tweet of UFO Photo

Has the release of Defense Intelligence Agency videos of alleged UFO encounters by US military jets spawned a competition among government agencies over who is more in tune with this type of disclosure? That might be the case with a new tweet by the CIA over the weekend (yes, the CIA has a Twitter account – or does it?) showing a photograph of a flying saucer UFO and a link to a page on its website entitled “Trying to Photograph a UFO?”. Are the CIA and the DIA competing to release files that were once MIA?

The CIA UFO photo from its tweet

The photograph is one of many released by the CIA earlier this year when the agency opened up about 13 million pages of declassified documents to the general public and set up an Electronic Reading Room for searching through them. Those documents included UFO photos from around the world, along with guides for future UFO spotters on how to get better photographs (set the camera to infinity, use fast film (Film? What’s that?), don’t move, take a lot of pictures, move around, include some ground images in the photos, etc.), how to gather non-photo information and submit a report (date, type of camera, direction you were facing, details of surroundings, breathalyzer results (OK, that last one wasn’t on the list but should be), etc.) and how to conduct a UFO investigation (consult with experts, eliminate false positives, gather forensic evidence, etc. (how about avoiding men dressed in black?)).

Why did the CIA decide to release this photograph now, along with a reminder that it’s been disclosing secret UFO files for a while? Perhaps it’s because many reports on the DIA and the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program claim that AATIP survived after spending its $22 million budget because of secret funding by the CIA. Is the CIA trying to distance itself from this alleged connection by displaying much better photos than the radar images in the DIA videos?

Or could there be a X-Files connection? The CIA document release earlier this year coincided with the return of The X-Files for a limited six-episode tenth season. That season was so successful, Fox is bringing Mulder and Scully (and Cigarette Smoking Man!) for a 10-episode eleventh season on January 3rd. Is the real CIA trying to outdo the fictional FBI? The CIA website actually has a page entitled “Take a Peek Into Our “X-Files” with “Top 5 CIA Documents Mulder Would Love To Get His Hands On:” and “Top 5 CIA Documents Scully Would Love To Get Her Hands On.”

Is the CIA’s tweet a sly distraction to divert the public away from demanding more real disclosure to demanding more episodes of The X-Files?

Paul Seaburn Paul Seaburn is one of the most prolific writers at Mysterious Universe. He’s written for TV shows such as "The Tonight Show", "Politically Incorrect" and an award-winning children’s program. He's been published in “The New York Times" and "Huffington Post” and has co-authored numerous collections of trivia, puzzles and humor. Paul likes to add a bit of humor to each MU post he crafts. After all, the mysterious doesn't always have to be serious.